Belting.



j so

oHARLEs E. lllARoN, or NEW YORK', N. Y.

BELTING. j

To all whom fiiiiriifco cern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. AARON, a

citizen of the United States, residing. at-

Brooklyn, city of `New York, county of Kings, State of New York, haveinvented j grades of belting.

To this end, the invention involves the cutting of the whole hide into astrip, preferably continuous in length, the cut being made substantiallys iral in form, i. e. beginning at one end of t e hide and passing bysuccessive turns or convolutions until the final cut ends at the middleportion of the hide, straightening the strip thus cut, lacing severalstrips, cut from individual ides on edge and side by si de and in closeinterrelation,with the weaker portion of the strips, due to the varyingcharacter of the leatherin the individual hides brought in substantiallythe same longitudinal section of the finished belting with the stronger'portions of other strips, whereby the belting produced is ofsubstantially uniform strength throughout,

and finally securing the several strips together by suitable transversefastening means.

. In carrying out the process, it is desirable a uniform thick- 'thatthe hides be reduced to ness, in 'order that the strips cut therefrommay be substantially uniform in cross sec- .tion from end to end and,incidently, the

involve the saving of valuable parts of the fihide,`fs`uch,as the grain,which is s lit or ,i skived from the upper surface of the 'de in 4`5`steps incident to this lreduction of the hide al continuous sheet,andthe under portion or flesh of thehide, which is likewise split off ina continuous sheet, so as to leave `the middle or intermediate portionof the hide 'of uniform thickness throughout.` i

-s ective view of a small section of the 'de s owing the mode ofreducing the same to a uniform thickness and at the same time sep- IUNITED STAWENE )-1g11-,110E

Specification of Letters Patent.

Applicationiiled December 18. 1906. Serial No. 348.417.

.better forms of belting,

kIn the accomipanying'drawings, :Figure 1l Patented Dec. 3, i907'.

arating the more valuable grain from the upper surface and the iiesh andsuperfluous eather from the lower surface. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalsection through thehide, graphically illustrating the constituent partsthereof in their relative arrangement, 'and the mode of separating thegrain and flesh to j f produce the body ortion, of uniformithicki ness,from h'ch t estri s are subsequently 65 l cut. l* 1g. 4 is a plan viewof a sectfftle completed belting, showing a convenient mode of securingthe strips together andlikewise a convenient kmethod ofsecuring.,'theends of the belting together to produce. Pan endless bandor belt. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of. a modified form of beltingjbe employed in connection with c roWne leys. A In the generalmanufacture ,.:0 .eather belting, 1t has been customary heretofore- .t0

take the properly tanned steer butts vailfd cut out the only availablepo 'mthe which portions-are limited to the rear half of the backjandtheHanks, leaving the neck, shoulder, and side il] portions as undesirablematerial. It, thus be seen that the available materialfuor 'l' 2`belting urposes constitutes somewhatlessl than hallf'of the entirebutt,under the condii- 85,v A tions heretofore prevailing, and, inorderito 'i' produce belting of commercial.v lengths, viz'.= ,E 400 to600 feet in length, strips va g in" i width from a few inches to severalfeet yand j 'i 'f approximately 4 feet in length were out from 90 theseprime portions of the hide and united end to end `by cemented lapjoints, sov that each hundred feet of belting would involve twenty liveor more cemented joints. Under the former practice, also, when belts ofunusual thickness were required, it was'customary to build the beltingup of two or more plies, properly cemented together, the strips 1n thesuccessive plies being so arranged as to break joint with each other, sothat, in a twoply belting fifty or more joints were necessary in eachhundred feet and in a three-ply belting seventy-ve or more jointswererequired. Aside from the inherent weakness of the old style ofleather belting, due to its numerous joints, it has been foundinefficient to a degree, when applied to crowned pulleys, for the reasonthat the relative transverse stiffness of the belting while inoperation, prevents its engaging the face of the pulleys over the entiretransverse surface thereof, the belting either engaging only the arrangeapex of the crown or the apex and one of the lateral faces, and ridingout of contact with other forms of pulleys than those having flatdriving faces.

As' heretofore mentioned, it is the urpose of the present invention topro uce elting, in commercial lengths, and of any desired thickness,which will com 'letely obviate the many objections to the ol forms offlat belting, to wit, a process which will utilize allof the material ofthe hides, except the irregular edges thereof, and the commerciallyvaluablegrain and flesh, which are cut therefrom, in producing beltingmade of relatively long strips, of a width corresponding to thethickness of the finished belting, set upon edge and side by side, withthe weaker ortions of the i individual strips in the same transversesection of the belting as the stronger portions of the other strips, andthe whole secured together by transverse fastening means, thereby pro--viding belting which is highly fiexible in all directions, is devoid ofseparate plies for varying thicknesses and, moreover, may be suitablyhollowed or concaved on its engaging surface to accurately engage theoperating surface of 'crowned pulleys. Moreover, belting made by thisprocess when cut in suitable lengths to form individual belts, maybeaccurately joined at its ends, so as to produce a perfectly smoothsurface on both sides andl also to introduce but a single transverse searation in the en'tire length of the belt which) is at the jointure ofits ends.

Referring to the drawings, a indicates a steer hide. As hereinbeforedescribed, hides of this character afford a com aratively small amountof leather availab e for the ,manufacture of flat belts, for the reasonthat the neck portion b is thick and relatively Soft and porous, theshoulder portions e are more or less spongy and lack the tough thereforebe split or skived in a sheet of substantially uniform thickness fromthe hide.

The under surface iof 'the hide consists of various portions of tissueand fat, known as the fiesh, which, though having certain commercialvalue, is not desirable in the finished belting and which, therefore,may be conveniently ysplit or skived from the hide in a continuoussheet. Generally speaking, the hide is 'of varying thickness, beginningat the neck b, which is uite heavyand spongy, it decreases in thic essuntil it reaches the relatively heavy fibrous portions f overlying thekidneys and other organs on either side of the backbone and thencediminishes in thickness toward the tail. In carrying out my process, theunder or flesh portion of the hide is first skived to produce asubstantially uniform surface, after which' the grain is skived off,both of which operations may be effectively carried out by Well knownskiving. This leaves a body of uniform thickness composed of the fibrousmaterial of the hide a of the same area as the hide.

Beginning at one corner of the hide, and

preferably at longitudinally opposite corners in an equal number ofhides, so `that alternate strips may have their initial portions takenfrom the shoulder and flank portions respectively of the hidesgstrips ofuniform width are cut from the several ides, the cuts 'necessary toproduce the strips 'being made in a substantially spiral form, asindicated in Fig. 1. These strips h are made of a Width equal to thethickness of the belting tofbe formed therefrom, and, in order toconserve the greatest economy of material in taking the cut from a 'venhide, the outside 'out conforms as near y as may be to the configurationof the hide, thereby leaving but little waste material on the outside`of the cnt. It will be observed that each'stri .includes substantiallyevery portion of a ide from the soft s ongy and relatively weak neck andshoul er ortions to the tough fibrous rime sections om the rear art ofthe bac and the fianks. Neverthe ess the individual strips whenstraightened, present a continuv ous length of from 400 to 600 ft., fora hide of p average weight, and are uniform incross section. Necessarilythose portions of the strips which were taken from the inferior sectionsof the hide are weaker than the prime sections from the back andadjacent parts, so that if a single strip were alone considered` itwould present an element no stronger than its weakest portion, that isto say the section taken fromthe porous portions of the hide. Thisvariation in 'the strength and texture of the individual strips,however, is adequately com ensated in the completed belting, in the folowing manner.

After an appropriate number of hides have been cut into strips ofuniform width, the strips are placed upon edge, side by side, throughouttheir lengths, the butt end of one strip being so located as to lie inthe same ably the next adjacent strip, and, correspondingly, thestronger ortions of the several strips, which inclu e the fine, toughgrained portions of the hide, are brought into juxta-position,transversely considered, with the weaker portions of other strips, sothat, considered as a whole, the belting presents a structure ofsubstantially uniform strength throughout. After the strips have beenthus arranged, they are secured together by any suitable fasteningmeans. Inasmuch as it is desirable that both faces of the beltingpresenta substantially smooth unbroken surface to the pulleys which theyengage, whether they be driving pulleys. or guiding pulleys, I find itconvenient to secure the several strips together by transverse deviceswhich do not project beyond the faces of the belt. A convenient mode ofsecuring the strips together to accomplish this purpose is shown in Fig.3 of the drawings, and consists of a series of relatively thin flexiblewire screws which are driven through the several layers or strips,transversely to the desired depth by a well known form of machine whichis available for this purpose. It is not essential that' the transversescrews pass entirely through the belting, ,but they may be arranged asindicated in staggered relation,

land pass only part way through the several strips. Of course othermeans for securing the strips togethemay be employed, as for instance,fastening them by continuous transverse lacing or the like.

It is to be particularly noted thatY belting made in accordance withthis method may be of any desired thickness, which is determined by thewidth of the several strips and also the length of the belting islimited only by the commercial exigencies of manipulating and storingthe completed article. When it is found necessary to join two or morestrips to form a continuous length, it is only necessary to square theabutting ends of the stri sections and bring them into juxtaposltionbetween the ad'acent strips. No other fastening than the evices forsecuring all of the strips together is necessary, as the severed ends ofthe strips will occupy their proper position and present no break in thecontinuity of the belting surface.

When it is desired to make up a belt of 'known length, a roper length ofthe belting is cut from the ro l in which 1t is usually kept, the endsof the sections, which are to be brought together to form the joint of.the belt may be conveniently fashioned in the manner shown in Fig. 4, towit, the ends of alternate strips h are cut out leaving projectingtongues j which t accurately into the corresponding recesses formed bycutting out the opposite strips in the other end and passing a pin orpintle transversely through the 'vase' several interlocked tongues orstrip ends'. While this affords a ready and convenient mode of joiningthe ends of the belt, it is obvious that other means may be employedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

A particular advantage inherent in a belt made in accord ance with thisinvention is its ready adaptability to crowned pulleys, for by hollowingor concaving the lower or operatrnay be caused to accurately engage t eentire transverse surface of the crowned pulley i and exercise itsmaximum driving effect.

To secure the best economy 1n carrying l` out the method herein proposedthe grain should be removed inv athin layer from the entire hide, andwhen so removed Imay be -used as a high grade leather. When the ingsurface of the belt, as' shown in Fi 5, it

usedfor belting, that is, the rear half of the back and the flanks, nosavingis attained, excepting the saving of the grain portion. If,however, any of the weaker portions of the hide are included in thestrip an additional saving is at once attained, but,it b'ecomesnecessary to build up the belt with the weaker portions of one str1adjacent to the stronger portions of anot er. Thus, ,if in making up abelt from strips of hide any portion of the weaker leather-in the hideis so utilized thehenefits of my invention are to' that degree attained.

So far as Ifam aware, I am the rst to propose in the m l-nufacture ofleather belting to remov\e the valuableY rainwirr a continuouscommercially sjalable s eet fronfthehide or sectionofdlidentilizeddand'then' tomcut the hide into a continuousstrip, and tomake up a high grade belting from several such strips placed on edge andside by s ide and secured together. I- am. also the first to propose tocut from a hide a continuous strip including vthe stronger and weakerportions of the hide and to overcome the weakness of these individualstrips by making them up into a continuous be ting by placing them onedge and side by side with the stronger portions of one strip adjacentto the weaker portions of another strip in the manner described.

What I claim is 1. The method of making belting which consists incutting a continuous strip from the weaker and stronger portions of ahide, placing several such strips on edge and side yside, so arrangedthat the weaker portions of the several strips lie in transverseproximity to the stron er portions of others of said strips, and .finaly securing the strips together.

2. The method of making belting composed of strips of leather, whichconsists in cutting the respective strips in continuous lengths from theweaker and stronger portions of a hide, placing the strips on edge andside by side, with the weaker portions of thel several stri s placedadjacent the stronger portions of t e contiguous stri s to roduce abelting of uniform strength t oug iout, and finally f'securing theseveral strips together.

3. The method of making belting composed of strips of leather, whichconsists in cutting the respective strips in continuous lengths and of awidth substantially equal to the thickness of the finished belting, fromthe weaker and stronger portions of a hide, placing the strips on edgeand side by side, with the weaker portions of the several strips placedadjacent the stronger portions of the Y contiguous strips to produce abelting of uniform strength throughout, and finally securedge and sideby si ing the several strips together.

4. The method of making belting composed of strips of leather, whichconsists in cutting the respective strips in continuous lengths from theweaker and stronger portions of a hide, 'placing the strips on edge andside by side in alternate relation to cause the weaker portions of theseveral strips to lie l' .adjacent the stronger portions of thecontiguous strips, and finally securing the strips together bytransverse fastenings.

. 5. The method of making belting which -'consists in splitting thegrain from the hides in continuous sheets, cutting a continuous stripfrom the weaker and stronger portions of each hide, placin several suchstrips on de so arranged that the weaker portions of the several stripslie in transverse proximity to the stronger portions of others of saidstrips, and finally securing the strips together.

6. The method of making belting which consists in splitting the grainand the fiesh from the hides to reduce the latter to uniform thickness,cutting a continuous strip from vthe weaker and stronger portions ofeach hide, placing several such strips on edge and side by side soarranged that the weaker portions of the several strips lie intransverse proximity to the stronger portions of others of said strips,and final y securing the strips together. I

7. The method of making belting which strips of leather cut from theweaker and consists in splitting the grain and the flesh from the 'hidestoreducethelatter to uniform thickness, cutting a continuous strip ofsubstantially spiral form from the weaker and stronger portions of eachhide, straightening the several strips, placing them on edge and lsideby side with the weaker portions of the strips arranged in the sametransverse portions of the belting with the stronger portions of otherstrips, and finally securing the strips together by transversefastenings.

8. Leather belting composed of continuous strips of leather cut from theweaker and stronger portions of hides, the strips being arranged on edgeand side by side with the weaker portions of each disposed in the sametransverse section as the stronger portions of other strips, and meansfor securing thestrips together.

9; A power belt composed. of continuous i stronger portions of hides,the stri s lbeing arranged on edge and side by sidi); with the weakerportions of each disposed in thesa'me transverse section as the strongerportionsof. other strips, means for securing the several'- x stripstogether, the ends of thebelt .bein,f fwjoined by alternate tongues Iand recessies^-`90 which interlock in the respective ends andi-atransverse fastening device passing through the interlocked tongues. s

l0. A power belt composed of continuous strips o'f leather cut from theweaker and 95 stronger portions of hides and of the same length, thestrips being arranged on edge and"- l side by side with theweakerportions'of each disposed in the saine transverse section as thestronger portions of the other strips, and means for securing theseveral strips t0- gether, the strips being so dis osed with respect toone another that at t e extremities of the belt-alternate stripsproject-be ond their fellows so. that the strips form inter ockingtongues and recesses, and a transverse fastening device passing throughthe interlocking tongues.

11. A power belt composed of continuous strips of leather cut from theweaker and stronger portions of hides, the stri s being arranged on edgeand side by si e with the weaker portions of each disposed in the sametransverse section as the stronger portions of other strips, and meansfor securing-- the strips together, the strips increasing in depthprogressively from the center outward to form a lower concave surface.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. AARON.,

